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Ministers welcome International Energy Agency report by Simon Bridges, Tim Groser Lyrics

Genre: misc | Year: 2015

16 JUNE, 2015

Climate Change Issues Minister Tim Groser and Energy and Resources Minister, Simon Bridges, today welcomed an International Energy Agency (IEA) report on energy and climate change. Minister Groser is special adviser on climate change to the International Energy Agency.

The report highlights that world greenhouse gas emissions from energy production and use are double the level of greenhouse gas emissions from all other sources. It suggests a number of strategies to reduce these.

Mr Bridges says the world is in transition towards a low carbon future, which has significant implications for its energy mix.

“New Zealand is a leader in renewable energy production, with around 80 per cent of New Zealand’s electricity produced from renewable sources, the fourth highest in the world. We are well placed to take advantage of low carbon technologies.

“But we can’t afford to be complacent. For New Zealand to transition to a low emissions economy we have further work to do to tackle emissions from energy, including transport. Our world-class geothermal energy and wind resources, greater use of natural gas and bioenergy, as well as increasing public transport use, are all part of the solution,” Minister Bridges says.

One of the recommendations of the report was to gradually phase out of fossil fuel subsidies to end-users by 2030.

Earlier this year Minister Groser led a coalition of governments calling for the phase-out of fossil fuel subsidies for environmental, economic and social reasons.

“More than one third of global carbon emissions between 1980 and 2010 are estimated to have been driven by subsidies for fossil fuels. New Zealand is playing an important role to encourage countries to reform fossil fuel subsidies,” Minister Groser says.

The International Energy Agency report was released ahead of the 21st UNFCCC Conference of the Parties in Paris in December where a new climate change agreement will be established. Ahead of the Paris conference, countries, including New Zealand will announce the action they will take to curb climate change. Energy will be an important part of the discussion in Paris.

“New Zealand is committed to global action on climate change. We want to set a target which is environmentally credible and reflects our national circumstances,” Minister Groser says.